Mickalene Thomas

Receives 2015 United States Artist Fellowship Award

November 10, 2015

November 10, 2015 - United States Artists (USA) is pleased to announce the 37 new USA Fellows for 2015.

Each artist or collaborative will receive an award of $50,000 to support their practice and professional development, opening up exciting creative possibilities through the transformative power of unrestricted financial support.

As one of the largest grant-making organizations in the country providing direct support to artists, USA spotlights the importance of originality across every creative discipline, from literature and performance to crafts and theater. Celebrating the breadth of American artistic practices from coast to coast, USA cultivates a creative ecology that is diverse in age, race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation. USA honors innovative, accomplished artists at all stages of their careers, who are nominated by their peers and field experts for the quality, imagination, and enduring potential of their work in the following disciplines: Architecture & Design, Crafts, Dance, Literature, Media, Music, Theater & Performance, Traditional Arts, and Visual Arts. Awards are entirely unrestricted and may be used by Fellows in any way they choose. Over $20 Million Dollars has been awarded through the USA Fellows program since its inception.

The 37 recipients of this year’s awards were selected from over 400 nominated artists living in the United States and US Territories and were chosen by panels of expert peers in each artistic discipline. “USA Fellowships are awarded to innovative artists of all ages and at all stages of their careers, who are nominated for their commitment to excellence and the enduring potential of their work,” said United States Artists CEO Carolina García Jayaram. “We are honored to present this year’s Fellows, a group of artists who were selected through a rigorous, highly competitive process. What continues to set the USA Fellowship apart is the unrestricted nature of our award. USA’s mission is to put artists first as they are the core of our organization. This is shown by the inherent trust we place in them to know how to use the money to further their practice and pursue unrealized opportunities.”